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Newly opened in 2012, Alta Moda Salon boasts modern décor and facilities that refresh eyes and bodies worn down by the urban elements outside its tranquil doors. Inside, its walls are dotted with the kaleidoscopic colors of Zoya nail polish, and pedicure chairs cradle each client's body as feet soak in a warm bath. The salon uses a product line that's all-natural and toxin-free, properties that are also shared by the best pet jellyfish.

The staffers at Savi Hair Studio, Tan & Nails know that a grumbling stomach can ruin a relaxing spa day as surely as it can ruin a congressional hearing on manners. That’s why they've designed the six-hour Day of Beauty to include a light lunch in between an aromatherapy facial, mani-pedi, shampoo and style, and makeup application. But even with a meal break, this package still can't claim to be a comprehensive survey of the studio's specialties, which also include Swedish and sports massages, bikini waxing, and tanning in a standup booth.

When she was just 19, Chiara Lazzara became a certified national educator for Paul Mitchell. Since then, she's spent the past decade honing her skills and now dispenses styling wisdom from her own establishment, Chiara Salon. Inside this Paul Mitchell focus salon, she and her team revitalize manes with services such as haircuts, color, and highlights. They also lengthen tresses with natural human-hair extensions, and embellish visages with lash extensions, spray tanning, and mani-pedis. In addition to beautifying hair for everyday wear, the team also specializes in hair and makeup packages for weddings and special events, with services performed on location or at the salon.

At Nice Nails II, the ceiling resembles a blue sky with fluffy clouds. Beneath this mural, manicurists top freshly groomed nails with traditional and no-chip polishes from OPI, Regal, Essie, and Nicole. They also lengthen natural nails with acrylic tips, and then decorate them with free-hand airbrush designs of flowers, animal prints, and thimbles. As a complement to nail services, beauty professionals wax hair and apply individual eyelash extensions.

True, some yellow and green polishes look like something you’d find floating in a bog. But they can also look like shamrocks, Big Bird, or The West Wing’s Donna Moss.
When I was finally old enough to pick out makeup beyond Dr. Pepper–flavored Lip Smackers, my mom guided me through the Walgreens cosmetics aisle, helping me choose subtle shades of lipstick and modest tubes of concealer. While she begrudgingly agreed to let me bring home 1999’s hottest nail-polish shade (metallic navy blue), she made a sweeping comment about the yellow and green polishes that I’ve never been able to shake: “Those colors make your nails look like they have a fungus.”
Her words still echo through my head every time I browse the nail-polish aisle—although I did manage to block out her voice long enough to try the mint and seafoam-green polish trends (I still love them). But whenever I spot non-minty greens and yellows of any kind on the shelves, I’m baffled. Who wears them?
Of course, no color is without a gross association—red is a classic manicure color, but it’s also the color of blood, an F on a school paper, or an F on a school paper written in blood. With that in mind, I decided to give yellow and green nail polishes a fair shake. Below, I analyzed five shades and tried to pinpoint exactly what they reminded me of, fungus or otherwise.
1: Sinful Colors in “Unicorn”
If it was a fungus, it would be: This doesn’t resemble a fungus so much as a moss—specifically Donna Moss from The West Wing. It’s the color of her hair, and just like Donna, the polish seemed a little bland at first, but finally won me over.
But it looks more like: Lemon icing on a Girl Scout cookie.
2: Sally Hansen I Heart Nail Art in “Sunny Side Up”
If it was a fungus, it would be: Scrambled-egg lichen (fulgensia fulgens).
But it looks more like: One of Big Bird’s feathers. There’s nothing gross about Big Bird.
3: Sinful Colors in “Innocent”
If it was a fungus, it would be: The scary, nuclear-green algae that floats along the banks of the Mississippi in my hometown. Algae isn’t a fungus, per se, but it’s still pretty gross.
But it looks more like: A pear Andy Warhol might have painted.
4: Revlon Nail Enamel in “Posh”
If it was a fungus, it would be: Boreal felt lichen (apparently also available in throw-pillow form)
But it looks more like: A shamrock.
5: Maybelline Color Show in “Walk in the Park”
If it was a fungus, it would be: Not a fungus—more like peat moss. At midnight.
But it looks more like: An extremely wearable shade of nail polish. It’s still green, but it’s such a dark shade that it looks more like a black polish with a little shimmer.
Photo: Andrew Nawrocki, Groupon